Allison
by Jerilynn
Summary: For 8 years Mulder and Scully's partnership and friendship has been put to the test, but the sudden appearance of a new face could alter the course of their lives forever. Note: Scully has never gotten pregnant with William, Mulder has never gone missing.
1. Allison Chapter One

Title: Allison

Category: MSR/Angst/A little of everything in between

Rating: T (At this time)

Summary and Note: (Alternate reality) Scully has never had William, nor has Mulder been abducted, but they have been partners for 8 years—Their strength has brought them together, tested time and again, but this time, a new face comes into their lives that could alter the rest of their lives forever.

Disclaimer: These characters, Mulder, Scully, and all X Files affiliated characters belong to Chris Carter, TenThirteen, and Fox Productions. Allison is my own creation, derived from a fantastic ideal, one that has proven to be quite the adventure to write in.

10:30 AM Small town in western Oregon—

Nearly sixty miles from the semi-metropolitan city of Eugene, Oregon rests a small, hill and forest town where a two story, beautiful hunter green home with a brick fence around it rests. In the yard there was a large above ground pool, a big swing set that was most likely built by hand, and a girl's bike with purple flower stickers on the seat. The yard in the back of the house was huge, with a large section of it devoted to the garden of fruits, vegetables, and flowers near the back door of the house. You could already hear the giggling and squeaking of an 8 year old girl's voice from behind a tree in the flower bed followed by her mother's voice in a strong tone.

"Allison, you better not be ripping up those petunias again," Mary had her back turned to her daughter, but knew exactly what she was doing by now.

Allison's little fingers were already around the base of one section of the petunias when she looked up at her mom, almost innocently, "Aw, but mom…can't I pick one?"

"One is not twenty, little girl, you may pick one and only one," Mary laughed to herself and pressed some fresh soil around her newly planted roses, "After that you may go pick some of the daisies, since those grow like the weeds anyway."

Allison grinned and picked the prettiest petunia she could find, then quickly trotted off to the daisy bed. Her long, nearly black hair sparkled in the sunlight, framing her softly freckled face, long eyelashes and big, greenish brown eyes. She looked strikingly beautiful for someone so young and already full of wisdom behind the mischievousness of childhood. Allison held next to no resemblance to Mary. Mary's looks were that of a Barbie; her hair was blond, her eyes were blue, tiny waist, long legs. The only part of Mary's body that was not Barbie-esque was her lack of a larger cupsize. Mary shared her stature with her little girl, though.

"Max, could you bring out some lemonade for us girls?" Mary noticed her husband was tinkering around in the kitchen.

Max was much more like Allison…tall, dark haired, and pale. His grin was also highlighted by the presence of two very pronounced dimples. He laughed from the kitchen while pouring two tall glasses of chilled lemonade.

"Two tall semi sweet lemonades," He announced as he walked out to the covered picnic table in the center of the yard.

Allison walked up to her Dad, presenting the daisies and the singular petunia to him, "For you, Daddy…"

"Oh, how beautiful, Ally, I better go put these beauties in some water," Max's grin was only enhanced by the presence of his daughter.

"Thank you, Daddy," Allison sipped at her lemonade as Mary joined her at the table.

Mary and Max looked at each other, love in their eyes, kissed each other softly as Max turned back toward the house to put the flowers in a vase. Her hand lingered in his for a moment as he started back to the steps. Mary blushed as she noticed Allison was laughing at them.

"Mom, what's it like to kiss a boy?" Allison caught her mother off guard with a question she didn't really want to answer.

Mary choked just slightly on the lemonade and sat down across from her daughter. "Well, kiddo, it's really nice if you love the boy. Why do you ask?"

"Tommy Smith tried to kiss me on the school bus last week—I told him to get his cooties away from me and knocked him out of the seat," Allison told her mother so matter-of-factly, "I told him he was disgusting."

"Well, that's good, Ally, you're a bit too young to be getting kisses from boys," Mary smiled at her, trying not to laugh.

"But maybe someday it won't be so icky?" Allison questioned after gulping down more of her lemonade.

"Maybe someday," Mary laughed, stirring at the ice cubes in her glass with her finger.

The forest behind the house suddenly became quiet. The usual frog or cricket noise was silenced without a warning. Mary looked out towards the thicket, squinting into the darkness of the underbrush. Max was still inside of the house as the lack of noise began to bother Mary. They both had gotten used to the sound of nature in the 10 years living out in the woods—almost as a comfort. The silence was foreboding but Mary directed her attention at Allison to keep her from noticing the slight worry coming over her.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Allison stood up, walking towards her mother.

"Nothing, kiddo—we should make some lunch with Dad," Mary smiled uncomfortably and turned toward the house.

The silence was joined by a bright light that blinded Allison and Mary. The light grew and was joined by a screeching noise, along with wind that knocked Allison to the ground.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Allison was screaming as the wind tossed her into the flower bed, her hands were over her eyes.

She heard nothing back, no other noise but the screeching rang in her ears. The wind stopped blowing and the screeching stopped suddenly. The light was the last thing to fade away, leaving the sounds of the forest to return to normal.

Allison, still half stunned in the flowerbed, opened her eyes, rolled onto her stomach and looked back toward the spot where her mother was. She could see the top of her head as she pulled herself up to her knees. Mary was lying face down in the grass, her hair a mess, and her body was lifeless as Allison crawled towards her.

"Mom?" Allison shook her mother's shoulders. "Wake up…Mom."

Allison stopped touching her mother as she saw the blood running down the side of her face from her ears. Allison screamed in horror and ran into the house to find Max.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mom's hurt!" Allison turned the corner, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Max was on the floor propped up against the fridge, blood coming out his ears, eyes open in terror. Allison stopped screaming and touched her Dad's arm; he was so cold. She started to cry as the realization that both of her parents were dead rang through her head. She grabbed the phone off of the hook and dialed 9-1-1.

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" The operator's voice was a comfort to Allison.

"My name is Allison Thomas, I think my mom and dad are dead, they have blood coming out of their ears, they aren't breathing, please help," Allison tried to speak calmly as she started to cry harder.

"Allison, I need you to calm down, do you know what happened?" the operator was trying to get her to keep talking.

"There was a bright light and wind—and I don't know! Please help!" Allison collapsed on the floor, dropping the phone beside her.

2 days later, Washington DC, FBI Headquarters—

Fox Mulder, already elbows deep in a stack of paperwork, sifted through a case file as Dana Scully walked into their basement level office, dripping wet from a fresh downpour. She dropped her broken umbrella next to a filing cabinet and peeled off her coat, hanging it over the back of her chair. She grunted in frustration as she realized her white blouse was half soaked, clinging to the bra beneath it.

"Did you win?" Mulder glanced up at her from behind the desk, smiling.

"Win what, Mulder?" She tilted her head in confusion at him as she stirred the creamer in her fresh cup of coffee.

"The wet T-shirt contest, Scully," Mulder looked back down at his haphazardly organized pile of paperwork on the desktop, "Black is a good color on you, by the way."

"Black?" Scully was half confused until she looked down at the wet top, seeing the black fabric of her bra underneath. "Shit."

She buttoned the suit jacket back up and sat down, trying to hide her embarrassment from him. They had always been able to joke around with each other but for some reason today Scully was sensitive to even the thought of him looking at her. She thought of him looking again, examining even, the curve of her hips and waistline. Scully licked her lips at the mere thought of taking off his tie—she liked him better without it. She sighed at the image of him in his off duty gray T-shirts that hugged him in all of the right places. Scully looked in his direction and proceeded to bite ever so softly on her bottom lip as she caught him looking at her again.

"You okay, Scully? You look a little peaked," Mulder's genuine concern for her was overwhelming her senses.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, cold but fine," Scully didn't know whether to look him in the eye or not.

Mulder smiled at her, still half wondering what was on her mind and half focusing on trying to catch a peek at her black bra screaming through her silky white wet blouse. There was something new about her today, or at the very least something he had never truly noticed before—the vulnerable, shy, and quiet side of her was shining like a bright light. He hadn't quite noticed it about her, but it was cute, sexy even, to see her in such a way. He watched her as her fingers fumbled with the hem of her jacket, enamored and enchanted with the way her slender fingers slid along the edge of the fabric.

"What are you staring at?" Scully shifted her weight in the chair, trying to hide her discomfort.

"Nothing," he grinned, as a soft shade of pink began highlighting the parts of his face closest to his ears, then cleared his throat. "Skinner wants us to investigate the sudden death of a couple from Mapleton, Oregon. They were found by their 8 year old adopted daughter, Allison, who doesn't know how it happened. The police that interviewed her said that she 'saw a bright light then heard a loud noise that made the wind blow.' The next thing the girl says is that when she was able to find her parents, both of them were dead, blood trickling out of their ears. She had no wounds, minus a few scrapes and bruises from being 'tossed' into the flowerbed by the wind, and was the one that called 9-1-1. The causes of their deaths have yet to be determined and an autopsy on both is still pending."

"What are you suspecting?" Scully examined the crime scene photos and began to read through the case file.

"Well, I'd like to interview the girl—there are more questions than answers in the statement that the police collected from her. Scully, I don't know what to expect but I do find it coincidental that a case now has some stunning similarities to a case we investigated 8 years ago in the same state of Oregon," Mulder began collecting all of the paperwork for the case, placing them in a briefcase, "I'd like to know what happened to these people."

Scully looked at him, the same man she would run to the end of the earth for, the same man that she knew would give his life to protect hers, and nodded. "When do we leave?"

"Our flight leaves at 6pm. I'll come get you at about 3?" Mulder closed the briefcase and grabbed his jacket.

"I'll see you then," Scully nodded and reached for a stray paper. "You missed one."

Their fingertips brushed against each others, locking their eyes on each other for a long, beautifully agonizing moment. He swallowed hard as he watched her chest heave—both of them went a little weak in the knees—as both did their very best to conceal the tension between them that flowed willingly like electricity. The touch and the gaze finally broke as they both collected themselves and headed off to pack for their journey to the Pacific Northwest for the second time in 8 years.

End Chapter One

** Please Give Feedback! I am working as quickly on this new story as possible and really want to make this the BEST fanfic I have ever written. This first chapter is still in rough copy and I really need any suggestions for the future chapters! Thank you for reading! **


	2. She has her eyes

Chapter 2: She Has Her Eyes

Note: This storyline was meant to take place 8 years into the X Files. This is an alternate storyline preceding the Season 7 episode "Closure".

7pm, Highway 126 towards Mapleton, Oregon—

The intermittent headlights of the oncoming traffic glowed dully through the dense, misty fog. The cars almost sliced through each layer of fog as Mulder and Scully's car turned the next corner. There were no street lamps here, no guiding lights to speak of other than the small beacons from nearby homes. Nearby became a relative term though as Scully watched the side of the road for a moment, looking down long drives and across the river at the homes across. This was the boondocks in the simplest of terms. This was rustic living at its finest, Scully thought to herself, but entirely too quiet and hidden for her taste.

"How can people live like this, Scully?" Mulder questioned, half frustrated, behind the wheel of their ice blue Ford Escort rental.

"Like what, Mulder?" Scully's eyes were focused on the files in front of her, sifting through the 30 plus images of the case they were about to embark on.

"Fog," Mulder gritted his teeth as he drove carefully through the low visibility fog, "I hate fog."

This was the first inkling to Scully that Mulder truly was a city dweller; why that never struck her she didn't know…but it was worth observing as she watched his discomfort grow slightly. Scully's mind was comfortable, almost at ease, in this kind of atmosphere. It was a place that she could see herself retiring in—a place to disappear or run away to. The highway was dark despite the slightly heavy traffic coming at them through each delicate yet sharp turn, well hidden by ever growing fog and the disappearing sun. Scully fiddled with the edges of the paperwork on her lap, trying to focus on the task at hand and not at the growing ache in her stomach. She glanced over at Mulder while growing ever aware of the pang in her chest, the sudden awareness of his mouth. Her eyes darted back down to the paperwork. _Focus, Dana, focus. This is not the time, nor the place to be feeling anything like this for him._

"I could handle this kind of fog maybe once a year—Then after that, I'd be moving to Florida," Mulder muttered as he slowed for a heavy curve.

The fog was strangely thick. When a person says "thick as pea soup", even this kind of fog would put that kind of fog to shame. The visibility was dangerously close to zero at times as they drove along the semi-winding highway. You would never have known it was the end of August once the time for the sun to set began to roll around. It was nearly dark out and the remaining sunset was well hidden by the forest they were driving through. The pace of the drive from Eugene out was normal for their travel during the X Files; but the surroundings and Sleepy Hollow-esque fog made an uneasy feeling creep up in Mulder's stomach. It was also a more foreboding drive than from other parts of the Continental US.

"I think it's peaceful, Mulder, and perfectly eerie at the same time." Scully looked over at him.

"What?" Mulder tried to laugh for a moment to cover up the obvious bewilderment.

"You know, it's all like a good horror movie," Scully's lips curved into a smile as she looked over at him, "…the kind where chills go up and down your spine, where you are practically looking over your shoulder every other second just in case some scary psychopath wielding a machete might come up behind you and hack you to bits?"

"And they call ME Spooky?" Mulder grinned in spite of himself as he glanced at her for a moment, his discomfort only softening because of her.

She always put him at ease. Scully's voice, her mere presence, was a constant comfort to Mulder. He didn't want to admit the truth to Scully—he feared the possibility of losing the one person left in the world that he cared for without a second glance. This wasn't just a partnership, this wasn't just a friendship anymore either. They had both jumped off that cliff so long ago, but they haven't hit the ground. Mulder took a quick look at Scully, took in and let out a slow breath, then refocused his attention to the road. _I wish you could know. I wish you felt the same._ His mind was racing.

He couldn't help himself to think about this woman next to him in the car. Scully looked good, really good, in fact. Her hair was flipped back, framing her face perfectly. Her eyes were perfectly revealed—intense yet soft baby blues. His thoughts traced the line down her nose to her mouth, delicate and soft. Her mouth was a beacon, a beckoning whisper of passion, and an all too enticing yet so far from the reach of his touch. He eyed her silhouette again, making a mental note of her clothing that fit so well. She had traded the wet suit from earlier in the day for another pair of black slacks and a deep blue cotton top. She looked professional yet comfortable. He took another good look at her and kept looking at the barely visible road ahead of them. Being near her almost kept his mind away from the X File they were heading to investigate, almost.

"Mulder, what exactly are you hoping to find out here? Mapleton isn't exactly the same town we were in eight years ago—and neither are the circumstances surrounding this case," Scully closed the file, resting her fingers against the top, taking in a deep, relaxing breath. "I don't want this to be a dead end—a waste of time."

"Answers—not just simply what happened but why only the parents, why not the girl?" Mulder continued. "I find it strange that such brutal circumstances surrounded a family and the smallest, the weakest in theory, of the three was left completely unharmed. Doesn't that seem even a little bit strange to you, Scully? An eight year old survives a brutal attack, out in the middle of nowhere—with no trace of a suspect or a weapon."

"I'll admit, Mulder, that the events are strange, but what are you hoping to find out?" Scully's voice had an inadvertent way of burning a hole through him, right to his core; striking both frustration and fascination at the power she could have over him.

"I don't really know what I want to find, but I have to see," Mulder's voice was soft yet firm as his hands adjusted just slightly on the steering wheel. "Even if the answer is just to give a little girl some peace of mind as to the circumstances surrounding the loss of her parents. Even if leaving with more questions than answers—helping to fill in some gaps for an eight year old is a more pressing of an issue."

She trusted his judgment, without a single doubt, a blinding truth that scared her to death. She was defenseless, in a way, to his convictions, his drive, and she knew that if he said jump that she just may agree. In the back of her mind, though, she knew she was always safe in his care—and that he'd never put her into a situation she couldn't maneuver into a benefit rather than a detriment.

"I know, Mulder," Scully nodded and looked at the 'Welcome to Mapleton' sign they were coming up on dead ahead. "Who is taking care of the girl? Local family?"

"No surviving relatives. Grandparents on both sides passed away in the last two years and both parents had no siblings. She is staying with the family of one of her classmates that have been the only family to the Weston's—they live out on East Mapleton Road," Mulder indicated on the printout from the county sheriff's department.

Scully watched as they turned right onto East Mapleton road and headed up and around a soft corner. She could see the river down below the hillside, a good thirty feet down below the narrow roadway. She kept a lookout for the address listed on the printout.

"That's it, on the left," Scully said to him, indicating a small white house with a dirty, somewhat downtrodden fence in front.

They parked the car, gathering up their coats and the paperwork from the case. Scully held the photographs of the family in one of the file folders—they were paper clipped to the top of the file on the inside. She unbuckled her seatbelt, not paying attention to the path of the metal end as it snagged the top of the paper clip, pulling it up just enough for a photograph of the daughter to slide out of the file and between the seats of the car. Scully never saw it. She pushed the paper clip back down and fixed the file folder again as she slid out of the car, catching up quickly to Mulder who was already beyond the fence.

He knocked on the door, twice, glancing over at Scully as they heard footsteps coming towards the door.

"Just a minute!" A woman's voice called from behind the door, as she pulled it open a bit. "Hi, who are you?"

"Mrs. Kenson?" Mulder glanced down at the file in his hands and then back at her.

"Yes?" She seemed confused, worried even as she glanced at Mulder then at Scully.

"I'm Agent Mulder, this is Scully, we spoke on the phone earlier on about the investigation of the Weston family? You're taking care of their daughter Allison?" Mulder showed her his identification, as did Scully.

"Oh yes, yes of course—I had forgotten completely, it's been such a busy few days around here…slipped my mind. Please, come in!" Melani Kenson smiled and opened the door for them to enter the home. "Would you both like some coffee? Tea?"

Melani was in her late thirties, darker complexion hiding behind her long semi-faded blonde hair that had fallen over her face just slightly, masking her bright blue eyes and bright, lipstick kissed lips. She was around five foot nine, somewhat thin, but very beautiful. Her demeanor was that of a doting mother and friend—she was also a very strong woman.

"No, thank you very much for the offer," Mulder was more concerned with getting to speak with the daughter. "We were hoping to sit down and speak with Allison if that is possible tonight."

"I don't mean to pry but may we talk for a few minutes, I just need to know what to expect once you talk to her—I don't know how she's going to react to talking about them. She hasn't really been letting anyone see when she's sad. She's trying to put on the tough kid boots right now," Melani lowered her voice just slightly so that the children upstairs would not hear her talking. "She cries herself to sleep just about every night—every time I come in to check on her she says she's fine. I know she's not."

"I understand and it wouldn't be a problem at all if we talked a little to you about it before speaking with Allison. We just have a lot of questions to ask her." Mulder followed Melani into the living room, taking the seat she had offered.

Scully walked slowly into the living room, glancing at the family pictures on the wall and above the fireplace. Melani and her husband, Michael, had two children, twin girls—Emma and Macy. They both looked like their mother while their father seemed to have a fairer complexion and freckles. The children shared the freckles with their father. Scully's eyes lingered over the images of this happy, beautiful family, a sense of longing flooding her heart. She wondered if Mulder ever felt that desire to have a family of his own—a wife, children—a life other than the one that held him in the hollows of an excessively dusty and dim basement office or out into chasing shadows in the dark. She put the thoughts out of her mind and smiled in Melani's direction for a moment. Scully took a seat across the room, facing the door, but within arm's reach of Mulder as they began talking about the facts—or what they knew at least.

"Mrs. Kenson—"

"Oh please, call me Melani, I hate Mrs. Kenson, makes me feel old," Melani grinned at them both. "I'm definitely not old yet. As much as my children might try to think so, I am certainly no old fogey."

"Melani—the circumstances around the events of the day that the Westons were killed are, troublesome and questionable at this point. There were no witnesses other than Allison and all she describes is a bright light, a loud noise, and a big wind that dragged Mary and her across the yard. She has no memory of how either of her parents died. The police have traced the line where Mary's body was found to where she was standing before the incident occurred—a line that equates to about 10 feet in length. The father's body was also thrown from the sliding glass door in the dining area to the back of the kitchen." Mulder continued, trying to illustrate to Melani without being graphic. "The coroner's report says that the cause of death in each case was unidentified. He did note that they had lost a considerable amount of blood, but there was very little blood on the scene. The police only found a small amount around their ear canal, possibly the exit point."

"Mr. Mulder, I am not a stay at home mom—I work four days as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. I didn't get the call that Allison made that day, but my co-worker called me the moment that it happened—I was the second on scene. Allison had no signs of trauma other than a bruise on each knee, a couple on her elbows, and one on her bottom from whatever knocked her down. The troopers on scene kept saying that there must've been an explosion, but couldn't connect a blast to the scene without it also taking the life of Allison. I knew immediately that we weren't looking at an explosion," Melani looked at Scully.

"What made you certain?" Scully asked as she glanced back through the crime scene photos.

"No scorching anywhere on the bodies or around the home, it just didn't make any sense for it to have been caused by an explosion," Melani took a deep breath. "I wish I had taken a moment before taking a closer look at their bodies. When I saw Mary and Max, they looked like they had been dead for days—full rigor and partial decomposition had started."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other, then back at Melani. She was trying very hard not to break down.

"I know this isn't easy, Melani, but Allison is our only link to finding out what might have happened to her parents. She may know something but doesn't know how to remember what happened," Scully tried to put her at ease. "Had either Mary or Max been threatened in any way? Did something recently happen that was out of the ordinary?"

"A few months ago…a boy was teasing Allison at school, telling her that she didn't have a real Mom or Dad. Mary was distraught when Ally came home and told her. I didn't understand why until the next day when I came to see her on my day off after the kids went off to school. Max and Mary adopted Allison—they couldn't have any children of their own. I don't know if they adopted her through official channels or not but they said they were aware of the girl that gave Allison up as well as the family of the girl that gave birth to Allison," Melani rubbed her eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Is Allison aware of that? Had anyone threatened the family over the adoption?" Mulder asked, taking down notes.

"Yes, but to what extent I'm not sure of. Mary had mentioned a car following them home recently from school, work, even when they went to dinner, there was the same black car following them everywhere. This was shortly after Mary had explained to Allison about having two mommies." Melani continued, trying to get a grasp on her emotions. "She took it so well. She asked her questions about her birth mom—asked about if she had other family. She said she was the 'luckiest little girl ever' to have a mom somewhere that was able to give her to a mommy who couldn't have a baby. Mary couldn't believe how okay with it Allison was."

Scully felt another pang in her stomach as Melani began to cry. Motherhood. She felt the same sting of emptiness that Mary must've felt knowing that giving birth to her own child would never be a possibility. She pressed a hand to her stomach in remembrance of not only the sickness that made her barren but also the memory of the child that was biologically hers but was not to be, Emily.

"Did Mary ever give Allison any information or photographs of her birth parents?" Mulder inquired, while sensing a change in Scully's mannerisms.

"I don't know. She kept a few photo albums in her backpack but doesn't let anyone look at them…I didn't feel it was right to make her show me what she kept from the house," Melani stood up. "I'm going to go check on them, see if Allison is ready to talk to you."

"Thank you, Melani," Scully looked up at her. "I really do know how hard this is—Allison is a lucky girl that she has a wonderful family to stay with right now."

Melani nodded, wiping away a few more stray tears as she headed towards the hallway. Scully looked at Mulder, trying to figure out where his mind was, what he was thinking—wondering if he knew what was consuming her thoughts. He briefly smiled at her, reached across the couch and squeezed her hand.

"You okay?" Mulder rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand.

"I'm fine, Mulder," Scully nodded and attempted to get back to the case. "Do you think that someone was trying to get the girl back?"

"The fact that Allison is an adopted child changes the situation—the people that gave her up may have been trying to get her back. They might have been even trying to get rid of them all if she wasn't meant to be found," Mulder contemplated the possibilities.

"You're not suggesting that this child was meant to die are you?" Scully implored him, hoping he wasn't making the parallel that she dreaded.

"Scully, we have to think of that avenue—I know it's not the way we want it to go but we have to think that maybe this child was somehow a mistake…a mistake that they took a long time to attempt to erase," Mulder looked down at his files in his lap.

"I know you're personalizing this, Mulder…It's a tragic story and yes, I'm having difficulties myself keeping my head in this as an investigator. Mulder I don't think we should be doing this, not with both of our minds clearly not on the evidence of this case," Scully didn't want to cheapen his feelings or her own in the process but she had to say something.

"Maybe that's exactly what we should be doing, Scully. This child needs our help, even if that means using emotion to do so," Mulder stared off into space.

Scully rubbed her eyes, trying not to let her frustration out. She took a moment to breathe and settle on compromising for him. Scully's eyes drifted toward the doorway to the hall just in time to see the face of a greenish brown eyed girl, with long, dark hair peek in at them. Scully focused her vision on the girl, halting her breath for a moment as the shock set in. The air went out of her as she looked over at Mulder, only to realize he had not seen the little girl yet.

"Mulder…" Scully reached out and squeezed his arm.

He looked at Scully for only a moment and turned his attention toward the eight-year-old standing in the doorway. It felt like the world had stopped moving as he tried to gather his words, thoughts, and emotions as he looked upon this ghostlike child.

"Hi," Allison's little voice brought Mulder back to the ground as he looked at her with wide eyes.

"Ally, this is Agent Mulder and Agent Scully…they came to talk about what happened to Mommy and Daddy…why don't you come help me with some tea for them?" Melani hadn't seen the expressions on their faces as she came up behind Allison to introduce them.

"Sure!" Allison eagerly followed her off toward the kitchen, leaving Mulder and Scully in the living room to continue to absorb the shock.

"Mulder, she…no, it's not…but…" Scully stammered as she looked at him, nearly fully concerned with his demeanor.

"Scully, she's got her eyes…I don't know how it can be but she's got her eyes." Mulder looked down at her, a sudden burst of emotion tearing through his voice.

"Think about what you're saying—that can't be, Mulder," Scully knew for certain as to where his mind was now because her mind was riding the same wavelength. "We can't make rash conclusions about this, Mulder—we can't. It just can't be."

"Scully, I know it's crazy and I know it shouldn't be possible but she's got Samantha's eyes…" Mulder's eyes were filled with tears.

He went silent again and looked at Scully. He knew she was talking to him at this point, but all he could hear was the heavy beating of his heart beneath his chest. The fear, anticipation, and uncertainty had already begun a steady creeping up into his mind—it had already begun to consume his soul along with it. The answers he had been searching for, the sister he had lost, and the questions that had been dodged were making their way to the surface. His mind grappled with the promise of insecurities continued to push him and Scully into a cavern of uncharted territory with more questions than answers.

End Chapter Two

***Third Revision Copy***

Grammatical errors hopefully corrected! I am still having trouble grappling with Allison as a character. I am trying to watch my seven year old niece's actions and mentality to aid in the development of her as I continue to revise. I am working diligently on chapter three…bear with me though because it could be a while before I can get a solid chapter ready to be put up on . Until then please comment with suggestions, critique (please be kind), and ideas for chapter three if you can see something that maybe I have not yet.


	3. Fading

Chapter 3: Fading

Note from the author: I have been working on this fanfic for quite a while. I jot down little bits of thought while doing my reception job—it's been an incredibly challenging bit of work for me to do. All chapters are still in their first or second edit phases and will probably be edited continually if a portion of the story just doesn't seem to fit right. Please check on this story regularly to catch the details that have been altered. Again, this story is an alternate reality beginning before "Sein und Zeit" and "Closure".

"Mulder…" Scully searched his face, hoping that she had finally reached him to bring him out of his trance.

He looked at her, nodded, poorly hiding a wave of emotions—sadness, elation, and hope—beneath a layer of shock. Mulder focused his attention on the doorway waiting for a sign that this was real, that this wasn't just his imagination. Mulder didn't want clarity to reveal that he had only imagined her there.

"Hi…" Allison's face was frighteningly similar to Samantha's minus a few tiny details.

"Hi—" Scully smiled softly at her. "You must be Allison."

"Yep!" Allison grinned at them, a smile extending ear to ear, innocence shining like a light from darkness.

"I'm Scully, this is Mulder," Scully marveled at how well adjusted this child was and how strong she appeared to be.

"I know, Melani told me," Allison sat down in a kid's chair on the opposite side of the coffee table, pulling a backpack beside her on the floor.

Mulder finally pulled himself together, if not for himself but for Allison's sake. "Allison, do you know if you can help me and Scully to know what happened to your Mom and Dad? We want to find out who did this to them."

"I don't know what happened after the light came. I couldn't see anymore and then the noise came. I kept calling for them but they didn't come for me. Then the wind picked me up and made me mess up some of Mommy's flowers. When it stopped I found Mommy, then I found Daddy…they weren't breathing anymore. They looked scared—very scared," Allison was staring down at a water stain on the table as she explained what she could fathom.

"You're very brave, Allison," Scully looked at her, hoping to keep her in the calm state she was in as she noticed the slight agitation in her mannerisms.

"That's what Melani says—I miss Mom and Dad. I know they aren't coming back and I know I won't see them for a very, very long time. I didn't want to be scared, needed to be brave for Mom and Dad," Allison hadn't looked at Mulder yet. "I needed to be brave because they weren't able to be brave."

Scully felt her sadness as she watched the first tear drops begin to fall against the wooden surface of the coffee table from Allison's eyes. She knew in her heart that this was definitely the first time anyone had seen her cry since the death of her parents. Mulder's eyes closed for a moment to collect his thoughts—to let her weep. Scully found a box of tissues and put them on the table next to Allison's hands. She blew her nose and looked up at Scully, then at Mulder. He wasn't quite looking at her yet.

She looked at him, eyes full of sadness and confusion until he looked at her. A glimmer of hope and adoration began to spark as she spoke. "I know you."

"What?" That was all he could muster as she spoke.

Allison stood, tears still streaming down her face, and walked over to Mulder. He didn't know what to do other than sit there, dumbfounded, as this child stared into his eyes. Her eyes lit up as the pieces began to click into place for her. He could see the world through her eyes, even though the vision was a little hazy.

"I know you, here," Allison's fingers pointed at his eyes, smiling through her tears. "I knew you'd come find me."

"What do you mean, Allison?" Mulder was taken aback by her words, trying to make sense of them.

"Mom said I was special—that I was given to her by another Mother. She had a family; a Mom, a Dad, and a brother. Mom thought I would be mad about it but I wasn't," Allison hurried to her backpack and pulled out a photo album, turning the pages quickly. "She wanted me to know who my other family was—for if I ever came to know them, or they ever wanted to know me. She had pictures and articles about them, so I'd always know. It was so I always had a piece of them with me. I wanted to remember them, even if I hadn't met them yet."

Mulder was at the edge of his seat, his stomach turning with both eagerness and fear, as she turned the photo album towards him. "This is her Mom and Dad…"

He looked upon the pictures in the first pages, various articles and little pictures about his own parents—their wedding, announcements about them, photographs of them when they were married and other stages thereafter. His heart was beating so loudly that he couldn't hear her talking anymore. Mulder couldn't grasp reality as his fingers traced each letter at the bottom of the page, "Grandma and Grandpa." He shuddered as he turned the page to find his birth announcement followed by photographs from when he was a child, his graduation from High School, and then his acceptance into the FBI academy. Underneath the most recent photograph he found the words written in heavy pen "Uncle Fox."

"That's you, you're him—" Allison's words drove through him like a truck, invading the most painful places of his heart.

He began to cry, unable to contain the flood of emotions, as he turned the page to find photos of his sister. There were a few of her childhood and ones from after her abduction, next to Jeffrey Spender as a teenager, and finally, one of her pregnant. She was in her twenties at least in her pregnancy photo. She was smiling softly, but she looked like she had been or was ill. Each photograph of Samantha had a caption under it that said "Mom", pulling at each little string of his heart to draw out the already growing guilt and sadness of what he'd missed. He didn't want to believe it but also wanted it to be true so badly. The final page was an article about a woman in her late 20s who had died in an Oregon hospital two weeks after complications from a surgical procedure. The date on the article was January 16th 1992. Allison's birthday was January 3rd of that same year. His tears only increased as the final piece fell into its place, reverberating to his core. The album fell to the table as his emotions overcame him. His tears weren't tears of joy at this moment and Allison knew it. Her shoulders slumped down and she sobbed, leaving Scully bewildered. She had no clue as to what was going on, nor how to fix it.

"Mulder?" Scully touched his arm as he slumped forward, covering his face with his hands.

She slid across the couch, taking a deep breath as she looked down at the album. Her eyes closed slowly as she saw what he had just witnessed himself. She wanted to comfort him but her eyes fell on Allison, who had resigned to a corner, her head buried in her hands. Scully took a deep breath and sucked back the hurt that was transferring to her from both Mulder and Allison. Scully walked slowly to the corner and knelt down to her, touching the top of her head. Allison's eyes darted up at her almost in fear.

"It's ok, it's ok," Scully choked back tears as she wiped a tear from Allison's cheek.

"I didn't mean to—" Allison could barely speak through each fit of emotions, her eyes pleading to Scully.

"Shhhhh, it's ok," Scully let a singular tear fall as she tried to comfort her.

Allison reached out to her, wrapping her arms around Scully's neck. Scully carefully lifted her into her lap, running a hand up and down her back. Scully glanced back at Mulder as he seemed to have gotten a grip on his emotional state. He was looking at her holding this emotionally damaged child, a child that, by the knowledge in front of him, was his niece. Scully looked down at Allison who had also calmed down significantly since Scully began holding her.

"What the hell happened here?" Melani's voice was angry and confused as she looked across the room at the mess before her.

Allison clung tighter to Scully as she tried to stand. Scully couldn't even speak as she knew just how terrible this entire scenario looked from the outside. _Leave it to the big, bad FBI to come into her home and make a small child cry. This looks awful, Dana, and how can I even begin to explain it. I don't know that Mulder has the capability right now to do so. I've never seen him cry like this, not like this._ Mulder was standing as Melani put the tea tray onto a corner table.

"I want answers, now," Melani crossed her arms, almost angry at the fact that Allison hadn't run to her side.

"This is all we have, Melani," Mulder picked up the album and handed it to her, walking past her to Scully. "I don't know if you'll understand or realize what kind of impact this has on Allison."

Allison looked up at him as he reached out to her with both hands. He knew it now, better than he ever could, as this precious memory of his sister reached up to him, ready to be held. This time he was crying the happiest of tears and her smile crept across her face, revealing a distant memory of Samantha he had almost lost. He picked her up and held her as if she had always meant to be held by him. She smiled at him and rested her head against his shoulder. He reached down the best he could to assist Scully to her feet.

"How can it be? You didn't know about this before?" Melani looked at them both, visibly emotionally throttled.

"I don't know—I never knew," Mulder shook his head as he walked towards her with Allison still in his arms. "I haven't seen my sister since she was eight years old. I don't know how to explain all of this and I know that it doesn't make any sense but at the same time it does."

"We are still going to figure out what happened to Mary and Max—they knew a lot about Allison's birth family. We aren't making a firm conclusion but we suspect they knew more than they were meant to," Scully explained to Melani, wanting to put her at ease again.

"Does this have something to do with the car that was following them?" Melani was gently sobbing as she walked towards them, crossing her arms.

"We don't know—it's going to take some time to find out exactly what happened, Melani, but we will," Mulder looked natural holding Allison.

Melani sighed and looked at Allison, then at Scully. "Where will she stay? I don't want her to disappear back into the system…"

"I want to stay with them, Melani," Allison spoke up, "please, Melani."

"This is absurd in so many ways but—she'll be safe, right?" Melani felt the sting of sadness hit her as she realized she had let Mary down after vowing to keep her safe, knowing Allison was no longer in her hands.

"She will be safe," Mulder nodded and continued, "Melani, you're not letting them down—I know you think that you're letting Mary down right now but you're not."

"I'll go gather up her suitcase," Melani was in shock at how well he had read her emotions as she walked up the stairs to the children's room.

"Melani…" Mulder had let Allison stand on her own two feet as she went to Melani and hugged her around the waist.

"Love you, Ally—so very much, sweetheart," Melani hugged her back, letting her soul sink the idea of letting her go.

She resigned back towards the stairwell leaving Allison to start gathering up her belongings in the living room. Mulder watched as this precocious child resembled his sister in so many ways; her mannerisms, her smile. He watched as she placed the album in the backpack at the very end, to keep it cushioned by other smaller items in the backpack. She grinned at them both as she put her collection of precious memories into the safety of her backpack. Mulder and Scully took a long look at each other, taking in the other's worry and fear. Their stare was like a steady embrace, a warm blanket, around each other's hearts. They were a mere few feet from each other but it felt like a lot less as they looked into each other's souls.

"I'm ready," Allison broke their gaze as Melani walked in carrying two small suitcases into the living room.

Mulder looked at Melani and took the suit cases from her, exchanging a nod of understanding. Allison took Scully by the hand, looking up at her with bright eyes. They walked out to the car and placed each bag into the trunk, followed by the backseat door opening for Allison.

"Wait a second…are you big enough to not have a booster seat?" Mulder knew next to nothing about children, he realized, as he asked Allison about car safety needs.

She laughed and said "I haven't been in a booster seat for a year!"

Scully smiled, trying not to laugh at him as she helped Allison buckle her seatbelt. She got into the passenger seat as Mulder circled the car, sliding into the driver seat. He looked at the doorway, seeing Melani still there, visibly crying. She forced out a smile and a wave—the three did the same as they backed out of the driveway. Melani let out a sigh and choked on a few tears as she watched their car fade into the darkness.

"Please keep her safe." Melani spoke into the night and stepped back, closing the door softly.

****End Chapter 3 first revision****

Please tell me what you think! It's still in first stage; I'm still working out the kinks. If you see something definitely wrong with it, do not hesitate to let me know. I really enjoy input on each story that I write—and I'd love to see this one improve. Please note that I will delete inflammatory comments, they are not helpful or necessary. Thank you.


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